Books and comics read in November 2020
Thursday, 3 December 2020 11:12![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhatsThis One Summer - Jillian and Mariko Tamaki
The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel
Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders - Jean Lorrah
The Faerie Godmother's Apprentice Wore Green - Nicky Kyle
The World of Critical Role - Liz Marsham and the cast of Critical Role
The Black Veins - Ashia Monet
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Deathless Divide - Justina Ireland
Afropean: Notes from Black Europe - Johny Pitts
Phoenix Extravagant - Yoon Ha Lee
Raybearer - Jordan Ifueko
The Unspoken Name - AK Larkwood
The Black Veins
This is a fun YA urban fantasy with a diverse cast and an interesting setup. I really wanted to love it, but it was somewhat marred by the vast number of typos, incorrect word usages, inconsistencies and contradictions within the text, incorrect dialogue punctuation etc. It's really hard to get absorbed in something when you have to go "wait, what" so frequently, and it's a shame because the first few chapters in particular were so good!
Also. According to the author, one of the characters is ace, which is great! Or it would be if he wasn't the guardian of death, and didn't spend most of his time as a ghost. Stop implying that ace people are basically dead. Just stop it. I'm so tired.
Deathless Divide
This is a sequel to Dread Nation, set in a version of late 1800s America where the Civil War was interrupted by zombies*, and where black girls are trained to fight them in order to defend white women. I liked Dread Nation but I LOVED this one, partly because the aroace character from the previous book becomes a point of view character, and partly because I felt like the characters were driving the story a lot more rather than getting bounced around by the plot. It's a really satisfying story about people trying to work out what the right thing to do is and what they want from their lives, with a glorious friendship at its heart. I enjoyed it so much.
(I did see some reviews that criticised its handling of the Chinese community in California - this isn't really my area to wade into, but I don't disagree, so, fyi.)
*I am not usually into zombies, but a) there wasn't much focus on the stuff about them that squicks me (eating people, decay) and b) I will do a lot for an aroace character
Raybearer
Really cracking YA fantasy novel. Does a lot of YA tropes but does them really well and satisfyingly, and centres a West African inspired culture instead of a white Western one. It did slide towards a binary view of gender from time to time, though not irredeemably so, and I would have preferred a little more focus on the secondary characters and their relationships with the protagonist and each other, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this and am excited to read the sequel.
Didn't finish: The Deep and Shining Dark
This had some elements I really liked - fantasy set in a port city! Lots of queer characters! - and it definitely wasn't bad, it just didn't particularly grab me, so I moved on.
The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel
Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders - Jean Lorrah
The Faerie Godmother's Apprentice Wore Green - Nicky Kyle
The World of Critical Role - Liz Marsham and the cast of Critical Role
The Black Veins - Ashia Monet
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Deathless Divide - Justina Ireland
Afropean: Notes from Black Europe - Johny Pitts
Phoenix Extravagant - Yoon Ha Lee
Raybearer - Jordan Ifueko
The Unspoken Name - AK Larkwood
The Black Veins
This is a fun YA urban fantasy with a diverse cast and an interesting setup. I really wanted to love it, but it was somewhat marred by the vast number of typos, incorrect word usages, inconsistencies and contradictions within the text, incorrect dialogue punctuation etc. It's really hard to get absorbed in something when you have to go "wait, what" so frequently, and it's a shame because the first few chapters in particular were so good!
Also. According to the author, one of the characters is ace, which is great! Or it would be if he wasn't the guardian of death, and didn't spend most of his time as a ghost. Stop implying that ace people are basically dead. Just stop it. I'm so tired.
Deathless Divide
This is a sequel to Dread Nation, set in a version of late 1800s America where the Civil War was interrupted by zombies*, and where black girls are trained to fight them in order to defend white women. I liked Dread Nation but I LOVED this one, partly because the aroace character from the previous book becomes a point of view character, and partly because I felt like the characters were driving the story a lot more rather than getting bounced around by the plot. It's a really satisfying story about people trying to work out what the right thing to do is and what they want from their lives, with a glorious friendship at its heart. I enjoyed it so much.
(I did see some reviews that criticised its handling of the Chinese community in California - this isn't really my area to wade into, but I don't disagree, so, fyi.)
*I am not usually into zombies, but a) there wasn't much focus on the stuff about them that squicks me (eating people, decay) and b) I will do a lot for an aroace character
Raybearer
Really cracking YA fantasy novel. Does a lot of YA tropes but does them really well and satisfyingly, and centres a West African inspired culture instead of a white Western one. It did slide towards a binary view of gender from time to time, though not irredeemably so, and I would have preferred a little more focus on the secondary characters and their relationships with the protagonist and each other, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this and am excited to read the sequel.
Didn't finish: The Deep and Shining Dark
This had some elements I really liked - fantasy set in a port city! Lots of queer characters! - and it definitely wasn't bad, it just didn't particularly grab me, so I moved on.